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tinselly

American  
[tin-suh-lee] / ˈtɪn sə li /

adjective

  1. decorated with or abounding in tinsel.

  2. cheap and gaudy.


Etymology

Origin of tinselly

First recorded in 1805–15; tinsel + -y 1

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

It’s a magpie movie that’s happy to give audiences the tinselly things they want — i.e., two robots clobbering the Wi-Fi out of each other.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 26, 2025

“Upstairs” meant the museum’s fourth and fifth floors, where “Queer Maximalism x Machine Dazzle,” on view through Feb. 19, is currently offering perhaps the city’s most glittery, tinselly, witty display of bling this holiday season.

From New York Times • Dec. 28, 2022

They were a bit cringeworthy, I thought, but I wanted a tinselly, childlike vibe for an evening house party.

From Washington Post • Nov. 29, 2022

It also feels like a postmodern spin on pictures like The Producers and Wag the Dog, with practitioners of the showbiz black arts creating tinselly illusions.

From The Guardian • Nov. 8, 2012

It is difficult for us, placed as we are so far from that tinselly age, to form an idea of the fever and furore of admiration which raged in Venice for these two men.

From Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Volume 20, September, 1877. by Various

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